Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.
AI WEIWEIWhat counts in the end is what the government does.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice. Such power will collapse because of a whisper.
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Now you have the equal opportunity to equip yourself through information and knowledge and express yourself as an independent mind.
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Many people are going to use [Beijing National Stadium], which makes it more meaningful. If we don’t design it, somebody else has to design it.
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They’ve become part of a conspiracy, collaborators of the crime, which is lying to the general public and trying to hide the kind of criminal acts happening in many cases.
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People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It’s an unbearable condition.
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Any individual can contribute its own belief. And our society or even our government are made by the people. The people would have the final voice, but it requires each individual to act. If we don’t act, then the result is very clear.
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Of course, most luxury goods in China are for corrupted officials and their relatives. And that made China become the biggest luxury-goods market.
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That’s why the country can’t face up to open competition – unless it resorts to measures like North Korea.
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The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique with a kind of rareness.
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China restricts the society’s freedom of speech. The Communist Party imposes these limits because it lacks confidence towards the future and has no ideals.
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We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.
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We grew up in a very material-lacking socialist society, but today China is a capitalist society. It’s very materialistic. It’s full of desire and luxury goods.
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This is a very general understanding of art in China, that being an artist can make you money and turn you into a star.
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I also have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who have totally given up hope. So I want to set an example: you can do it and this is OK, to speak out.
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If I look at it, I would laugh. I don’t know how I became successful.
AI WEIWEI